YouTube Marketing Blog

Running a giveaway is not just simply the action of uploading a video. There is a little bit of elbow grease required to truly get the most out of your giveaway, especially for growing channels. Luckily, our platform will automate some of the processes for you. However, marketing yourself the right way will lead to the best experience for giveaways. Below are 7 marketing tips to help you really get the most out of your giveaway.

#1 Value Your Video Content

Many YouTubers spend precious minutes in their video by describing the giveaway. By doing this, you are doing the following:

Reducing the future value of the video

Wasting valuable time that can be used towards interesting content (reviews, updates, etc.)

Putting in more work than you need to

Before running the giveaway, think about a creating a quality video that will benefit the viewer. Whether it’s a product review, a haul, an announcement/update, or maybe something creative. In the end, you can always provide basic details at the end of the video or you can direct them to the giveaway URL in the description below.

*Example of an iPhone case review which included a giveaway at the end via Geekanoids.

# 2 Provide products that you would want yourself.

A giveaway is most engaging when the prize is a product or software that you would like to have yourself or an object that will have a hard time getting their hands on. Dollar values are great indicators to determine how many people will sign-up but also the limitability. The greater the value, the likely more people will join your giveaway.

*Bonus tip, YouTubers should try to network with product companies to see if they can do a cross-promotion where they will provide you with free items. For techies, software is the least cost as it does not require any shipping.

#3 Make the product relevant to your brand.

Provide thoughtful giveaways with products that are related to the content you are sharing. Although a shiny new iPad would be nice, you will not attract the right audience if you’re running a fashion vlog. Everyone loves giveaways, but in order for you to be memorable, the product will have lasting power when it is associated with your purpose.

#4 Add the giveaway on your most popular video.

With a quick data look up on your most popular video at the moment, adding an announcement of your giveaway in that title and the URL in the description will lead to more entries.

The beauty of Gimmy It is that you do not have to commit your video’s content to the giveaway. Simple additions and removals of the URL will help direct more traffic as our older videos are driving consistent traffic.

#5 Ask to partner with the PR team of the product company.

If you channel is relatively popular and you are looking to promote another organization’s product, be sure to reach out to them either from social networks or by finding a contact through their homepage or LinkedIn. As mentioned in tip #3, it is important to network with relevant organizations as cross-promotions are great opportunities and low marketing costs for the product/company.

Organizations will love the fact that you’re promoting their products and may even end up providing you with more items for the future. Relationships are key!

#6 Share on Reddit /r/ and relevant forums

Be sure not to spam these sites. Simply post it in the right places as you’d like for people to know about your giveaway. Also, keep checking up on it to see if there are any comments, that way you can have a direct conversation with potential entrants.

#7 Send out reminders when the giveaway is ending across social networks

With a little bit of urgency, remind your audience that your giveaway is ending in a few days or that it is the last day to enter. That way, you’ll have a final push of entries before it ends. Friendly reminders are nice, so continue to share it across your networks at select times.

In Conclusion…

There you have it, 7 tips to improve your giveaway. These are based on real case studies that have helped YouTubers grow their audience and social reach across multiple networks. Giveaways are low costs, yet a valuable marketing strategy to increase your reach. The thing is, EVERYONE is running a giveaway, so you must stand out from the rest while gaining the attention from the people that matter most.

We’ll continue to share insights on what works and doesn’t to help you with your next giveaway.